Just got my 2 cup Brikka from Italy, about $50 with postage from www.bella-italia.com. Have made about 6 pots and I'm definitely getting crema...the problem is, it has a fine coffee silt in it, which makes it taste bitter and chalky. I.e. the silt floats in the crema and clings to the side of the cup. If it sat at the bottom like french press, I'd have no problem with it.

I'm using a KitchenAid ProLine grinder on 6.5 (espresso setting is 8) and I'll try dialing it back. Anyone else have this problem, or suggestions?

My new 4-cup Brikka arrived yesterday from Espresso Zone, and after three throwaway pots last night, we made our first drinkable pots this morning. I still feel like I haven't "got" it yet -- I'm not quite sure whether I'm managing the heat properly. The coffee tasted fine, perhaps a touch bitter, but with a brand new pot, I wasn't expecting TOO much.

I should say that I've been using my run-of-the-mill Mokas for about 20 years now (from long before I married my Italian husband, even!), so I'm very familiar with getting a good cup that way. And I'm used to the sound telling me when my coffee is ready. But with the Brikka, I hear one whoosh -- but when I go into the kitchen to check, there's hardly any coffee in the upper pot, just a ton of foam (the famous "crema"). So I wait a while longer, and the coffee does seem to sneak in, but should I have taken the whole pot off the burner after the whoosh? As it is, the coffee seems to start boiling (and thus losing the crema, and getting bitter) before I've got my full pot.

By the way -- I've always preferred aluminum Mokas to stainless ones! I think they age better, and make mellower coffee.

Makingmark -- it sounds to me like you're just using too fine a grind. Ideally, the grind should be a little bigger than the holes in the filter, but it sounds like yours isn't, which is why you're getting it in the crema.

I'd hate to think it's the grind. I have a KitchenAid ProLine flat burr grinder and I've tried coarse french press grind, and I still get silt. I'd rather blame the cheaper Brikka :)

I had thought perhaps the filter or gasket was a problem, but they look ok. I guess I'll try a brick of espresso from the store. That's what Amagien (not the right spelling, some web store selling the Brikka & referenced earlier in this thread) suggested.

Incidentally, I haven't had NaProus' exerpience of all foam, no coffee. I get the coffee and foam - but plus silt.

Sounds like from what most are saying, the difference between the 2 and 4 cup is marginal at best. A bit more crema is not a big deal to me. I usually add a touch of natural sugar and cream so I end up killing the crema with some stirring.

A t least with the 4 cup, you can have a larger cup and more to work with if you want to try a cafe crema, for example.

One thing others have said is that they still get some grit in the cup. I always get a fine grit...minimal, but it is there non the less. I always notices this in my french press, vaccum (a little bit) and moka pots. With the Moka pots, I let them sit a few seconds for the fine particles to settle in the pot before pouring.

Makingmark, I use a Proline Grinder with my Brikkas and moka pots, too. I have a Super Jolly for my espresso machines. My Proline is set on 7 and a half for moka and Brikka. I get great results from all (4 and 2 cup Brikkas, 6, 4, and 1 cup mokas) and the Proline is perfect for it. I also have the Proline adjusted to maximum fineness (per the manual instructions) for 8, so the 7 and a half is probably the finest of the factory (untweaked) settings. Anyhow, sounds like you may have a problem unrelated to the grinder. I do disassemble and clean my grinder and burrs periodically. You might try that. The instruction manual is excellent for doing stuff like that. Hope this helps.Gatewood

My new 4-cup Brikka arrived yesterday from Espresso Zone, and after three throwaway pots last night, we made our first drinkable pots this morning. I still feel like I haven't "got" it yet -- I'm not quite sure whether I'm managing the heat properly. The coffee tasted fine, perhaps a touch bitter, but with a brand new pot, I wasn't expecting TOO much.

I should say that I've been using my run-of-the-mill Mokas for about 20 years now (from long before I married my Italian husband, even!), so I'm very familiar with getting a good cup that way. And I'm used to the sound telling me when my coffee is ready. But with the Brikka, I hear one whoosh -- but when I go into the kitchen to check, there's hardly any coffee in the upper pot, just a ton of foam (the famous "crema"). So I wait a while longer, and the coffee does seem to sneak in, but should I have taken the whole pot off the burner after the whoosh? As it is, the coffee seems to start boiling (and thus losing the crema, and getting bitter) before I've got my full pot.

By the way -- I've always preferred aluminum Mokas to stainless ones! I think they age better, and make mellower coffee.

Is that how things look for you? Do you get more or less crema? Do you get more or less coffee? How much water is left in the bottom? What do you mean "before I get a full pot"? etc. etc.

(BTW, I do not get as much crema as that video shows but mine I think tends to look a little richer and less foamy, more like Myron's pics. Also, I do not use a blend with *any* robusta as I suspect perhaps the person in that video may be using - are you using a blend w/robusta? That might be another interesting question.)

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